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Reforms in urban local bodies
HPU Convocation
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Campaign against RSS intolerable, says BJP
Lecturer’s scales for phy edu teachers
Nalagarh haven of animal skin trade
CPM protests against Obama visit
‘Review working of Rogi Kalyan Samitis’
Paprola to have ayurveda centre
Paragliding Championship
Red Cross fair on Nov 19
Central team assesses loss to crops
Doc to attend global meet in S Africa
Minor raped near Baddi
Body of drowned man still missing
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Reforms in urban local bodies
Shimla, November 8 The reforms being carried out in the Municipal Corporation like rationalisation of property tax, imposition of user charges, outsourcing of services, e-governance and switchover to double entry accounting are part of the conditions laid down for availing funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). However, some of the important reforms, recommended by the commission, require legislative action on the part of the government. The most important issues in this regard remain the simplification of municipal laws, constitution of state finance commission (SFC) and their synchronicity with the national Finance Commission. The Finance Commission has expressed disillusionment with the quality of reports produced by the SFCs and underlined the need to lay down requisite qualifications for appointment of members. The Constitution enables states to make laws on the qualifications and it is desirable that they act in this matter. At present, there is little incentive for the SFCs to produce a comprehensive report and the states are not keen either to accept their recommendations or to place the Action Taken Report before the state legislature in a timely manner. This situation provides a further disincentive for SFCs to produce good quality reports. There is, thus, a need for states to ensure that the recommendations are implemented without delay. Amendment to the existing laws is required to ensure more autonomy to local bodies both in the matter of raising resources and incurring expenditure as at present they have to go to the government for even petty matters. The other reforms include expenditure compression through outsourcing and public-private participation, system for maintaining municipal finance statistics, framing of guidelines for establishing Nagar Panchayats. Incentivising revenue collection through a system of matching grants and mandating some or all local taxes as obligatory at non-zero rates of levy by deducting deemed own revenue collection from transfer entitlements. Transfer of all funds directly to the local bodies instead of parallel agencies whose activities intersect with theirs and scrapping of such agencies. The commission has also underlined the need to ensure that SFCs are appointed on time and the period covered was synchronous with that of the National Finance Commission. |
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HPU Convocation
Shimla, November 8 Speaking at the 18th convocation of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) here today, the Governor, who is also the Chancellor, lauded the initiatives of the state government in opening schools and higher educational institutes in every nook and corner of the state. She along with Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal awarded Ph.D degrees and gold medals to 215 students at the convocation. “Himachal is way ahead of other states in terms of literacy rate and it has now accorded top priority to education of women, which can bring about greater change in society,” she said. Reserving a seat for single girl child in the HPU was another appreciable step, she added. “Illiteracy is not only a cause for social backwardness but a great constraint for economic development, which needs to be overcome at the earliest,” she stressed. She congratulated the degree holders and gold medalists and wished them success in their future. Addressing the student community, the Chief Minister said his government had accorded top priority to education which was free for girls. “We are spending 17 per cent of our budget on the education sector by spending Rs 2,567 crore in opening educational institutions and strengthening the infrastructure,” he stated. He added that in comparison, the Centre was only spending 2.86 per cent of its budget on education. He said Himachal had a network of over 16,000 educational institutions, besides 321 degree and vocational colleges in the public and private sector imparting quality education. The opening of Central University at Kangra and IIT at Mandi were steps aimed at making the hill state an education hub. He said the initiatives taken by the government had helped bring down the dropout rate in schools to almost zero while the university was helping those living in far-off places to study through its distance learning programme. “The fact that the HPU has already initiated the process of preparing its vision document for the next 10 years is a welcome step which will help in achieving greater milestone,” he said. Vice-Chancellor Prof Sunil Gupta welcomed the guests. Girl students outnumbered boys whether it was in award of degrees or gold medals, indicating the lead taken by girl students in practically every subject. Education Minister Ishwar Dass Dhiman, local MLA Suresh Bhardwaj and former MP Kripal Parmar also attended the function. |
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Campaign against RSS intolerable, says BJP
Shimla, November 8 In a statement issued here today, state BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt said it was on the directives of AICC chief Sonia Gandhi that the central agencies were implicating senior RSS workers on false cases. “The Congress should not misunderstand the decency and civility of nationalistic and patriotic organisation like the RSS to be its weakness,” he warned. Coining of the term “saffron terrorism” by Home Minister P. Chidambaram and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi equating the RSS with SIMI is an insult to the country where 90 per cent of the people have faith in the saffron organisation. He said the BJP would express its resentment against such tactics by the UPA regime by holding massive demonstration at all district headquarters. “It is high time and the Congress should seek an apology from the RSS for the insulting remarks made against the organisation and put an end to such cheap tactics,” he demanded. Protest tomorrow
Dharamsala: The Kangra district unit of the RSS will hold a protest rally at the Police Ground on November 10. Head of the Kangra unit Basant Kumar Sood said the rally was being held to condemn the comment of comparing the RSS with a terrorist organisation. He said saffron colour was associated with patriotism and connecting it with terrorism was uncalled for and the Central Government had disclosed that it knows nothing about national values and beliefs. He further said sangh’s senior leader Indresh formed the Rashtriya Muslim Sangh to develop communication with Muslims but some of the political parties were uneasy with the development and involved Indresh’s name in Ajmer bomb blast. He alleged that the Central Government had been trying to deviate public attention from the massive corruption that took place in the Commonwealth Games and the Adarsh Society scam. The RSS has announced to take out protest rallies all over India on November 10 against the Congress government. RSS activists will also hold a protest outside the DC office here after the rally in the Police Ground. |
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BJP misusing govt machinery: Cong
Shimla, November 8 General secretary of the party Kuldeep Rathore said though the panchayat elections were not held on party symbols, the parties fielded candidates professing their political ideology. The ensuing poll had been made a government affair by the ruling BJP by deploying ministers who were visiting from village to village. Not only the government was making promise to allot land to landless in both urban and rural areas but also applications had been invited from eligible below poverty line
(BPL) families on the eve of the poll. Even the reservation roster being manipulated for the purpose. This was not for the first time that the BJP was resorting to such tactics. In 2001 also it promised to regularise encroachments for which lakhs of people submitted applications. Today all encroachers had been debarred from contesting poll and all those people who were misled by the promise had lost the right to contest elections. Rathore lambasted the BJP for accusing the Centre of discriminating against the state for grant of funds and said the entire development activity in the rural areas was being carried out from the funds made available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Yojna. The state was now getting over Rs 900 crore under the scheme more than four times the amount received when the scheme was first introduced. Even repair work of roads was now being carried out using the funds provided by the Centre under the scheme. |
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Lecturer’s scales for phy edu teachers
Shimla, November 8 While giving relief to the physical education teachers, the court specified in its order that the benefit of grant of such scale should be given to all eligible teachers, whether they were petitioners in this case or not. The court cautioned the state government that the arrears would be paid or credited to the accounts of the person, so found eligible on or before April 30, 2011, failing which the state would be liable to pay interest at 12 per cent per annum. Justice Deepak Gupta passed this order on a petition filed by the 94 aggrieved teachers alleging that all other teachers teaching other subjects to plus one and plus two classes in the senior secondary schools were designated as lecturers (School cadre) and paid the scale of lecturer. Whereas the petitioners were not designated as lecturer ( School cadre). The petitioners were claiming that they fulfilled all requisite qualifications for being appointed as lecturers in physical education. While passing the order, the court observed that the Administrative and the Finance Department had recommended that the posts of these teacher should be upgraded and supported the recommendations with reasons. The state Cabinet had rejected this proposal. Normally, the court would not take up the issue in policy matters. But in the present case, there is arbitrariness and discrimination which violates Article 14 of the Constitution of India. |
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Nalagarh haven of animal skin trade
Solan, November 8 The revelations had come to light when a Nalagarh-based youth was pulled up by central intelligence agencies in Delhi sometime back. DGP Dr DS Manhas, agreeing to the fact, said there had some intelligence inputs on the issue and efforts were afoot to nab the traders. As a precaution, the police has been directed to maintain a strict vigil on the various escape routes of the area as it has a porous border with Punjab and Haryana. Figures procured from the police at Nahan revealed that the cases of poaching had been rising abruptly year after year. As against a single case of poaching of leopard detected in 2008, four cases were detected in 2009 which comprised a deer and three leopards. Worse still, 10 cases of poaching had already come to the fore this year which comprised six leopards, a porcupine, a barking deer, a wild boar and an axis deer from the Ragarh forest division and its surrounding areas. Though a single case of leopard poaching had been detected in the last one year at Solan, a number of such cases had surfaced the previous years, thus lending credence to continuity of such incidents for trade purposes. Swaran Singh, DFO, Rajgarh, terming the Narag forest range as sensitive, said people had been strictly directed not to kill wild animals even if they attacked them as adequate funds had been made available for paying compensation for any loss. With the wildlife department not having made any fresh census after 2004, the latest figures of critically endangered species like leopards are not available, but given the rising number of poaching cases, there number is likely to have shown a downward trend. Since the culprits nabbed in illegal trading are generally gullible locals who kill animals for making a quick buck, the police has a herculean task to nab the actual traders who appear to be operating surreptitiously. Many times, the forest department shifts the responsibility on the police thus doing precious little to investigate and check future happenings. This is also emboldening the offenders. |
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CPM protests against Obama visit
Shimla, November 8 Secretary of the Shimla Committee of the CPM Jagat Ram said the visit of Obama was against the interest of the country and its people. The CPM activists also held a rally, which was addressed by senior leaders. “The Obama visit has a hidden agenda of reform in retail trade and the financial sector and a bid to insist India to buy military equipment from the US,” said Tikender Singh Panwar, member of the State Secretariat. He added that the UPA regime was adopting pro-US policies in banking, insurance, health and
other social sectors which would ultimately have a devastating affect on the economy. He also demanded that the US must not pressure India to open up its markets for US multinational companies in agriculture, retail and education sector. He also sought justice for the Bhopal gas victims and scrapping of the Indo-US Defence Framework Agreement, which sought to convert India into a military ally of the US. The CPM also demanded that the US must withdraw its remaining 50,000 troops in Iraq and end the US embargo on Cuba. |
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‘Review working of Rogi Kalyan Samitis’
Bilaspur, November 8 A meeting of the state executive committee of the federation was held here yesterday. It was presided over by its president Ram Singh who urged Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Health Minister Rajiv Bindal to review the functioning of these samitis and ensure that these were reconstituted with prominent members, senior citizens and social workers in majority. These samitis should also be given powers to see that the hospitals function properly and according to the requirements of the patients. The meeting said the local regional hospital had become an example of mismanagement and indiscipline in several ways and hundreds of patients suffered daily. It further said this was damaging the image of the government that it could not bring order even in a single hospital to make it worthy of the services it was required to deliver to patients. The meeting took exception to the fact that the CT scan machine remained out of order for most of the time and patients were given long dates for other tests like ultra sound, thus compelling them to opt for private clinics. The government should ensure that all machines installed here in the Regional Diagnostic Centre should be put to good use. It also demanded that at present seven out of total 25 posts of doctor were vacant in this hospital and it had only become a “referral hospital”. It demanded full check on activities of some of the doctors who prescribed costly medicines and tests. It suggested that the Health Minister should pay at least one surprise visit to the hospital every fortnight with a view to improving and streamlining its functioning. |
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Paprola to have ayurveda centre
Kullu, November 8 Speaking on the occasion, the Health Minister said Rs 30 crore had been earmarked for 300 health centre buildings and Rs 19 crore for infrastructure and instruments in the ayurvedic health centres in the state. He said the panchkarma method of treatment would be available in all ayurvedic hospitals in the state by March 31, 2011. As of now that method is available in 16 health centres out of the 28, he added. Rajiv said Rs 5 crore Ayurveda Centre of Excellence of Northern India would be set up at Paprola in Kangra district. MLA Govind Singh Thakur said the panchkarma centre to be constructed at a cost of Rs 4 crore at Katrain would not only benefit locals but also boost the tourism sector. He said the ayurveda centre would have 34-bed capacity hospital, besides the panchkarma centre. He further said the district ayurvedic hospital building was near completion at Kullu and would be dedicated to the people soon. Later, the Health Minister inaugurated a free of
cost three-day-long ayurveda health check-up camp at Katrain. |
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Paragliding Championship
Stating this here today, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Satpal Singh Satti said the committee would also look after other technical aspects like weather and temperature crucial for the conduct of the event for which all arrangements had been made. The committee was headed by Air Commodore TK Rath and assisted by five members having distinction in adventure sports. The event was to be held from October 29 to Novmber 1 but due to restrictions imposed by the Government of India in view of Commonwealth Games, it had to be rescheduled. He said it would be a mega event in which women and local paragliders would also participate along with international pilots. It was for the first time that a novice category had been introduced in the paragliding competition to provide an opportunity to the local and budding paragliders to participate in the championship. The event had been divided into three categories, open category (30-35 km), women category (30 km) and novice category (10-15 km). The top three winners of open championship would be given cash prizes of Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively. Similarly, the winners of women and novice categories would get cash prizes of Rs 10,000, Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 along with trophies. The championship would be organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports in collaboration with the state Tourism Department with the technical support of the Aero Club of India. |
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Red Cross fair on Nov 19
Bilaspur, November 8 Deputy Commissioner (DC) Nandita Gupta said this while presiding over a district-level meeting of officials and non-officials at the Bachat Bhawan here today for making arrangements for the fair. The DC said attempts would be made to make the fair attractive and worthwhile for all sections of society so that large number of people come forward and donate liberally for the noble cause of helping those in dire need of financial support. She said apart from organising exhibitions by government departments, mahila and yuvak mandals and NGOs, spot painting, rangoli, salad preparation competitions, skill games, tambola, dog show and baby show would also be the highlights of the fair. A souvenir would also be published on the occasion. |
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Central team assesses loss to crops
Shimla, November 8 A six-member team headed by Joint Secretary, Home, Shambhu Singh, interacted with the local people and inspected various sites during the field visit. Deputy Commissioner J.C. Rana, Shimla, and senior officers of the PWD and the district administration also accompanied the team. The upper areas of Shimla district were among the areas severely affected by the rains. Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta had brought the plight of the affected people to the notice of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal who took up the matter with the Government of India. As a consequence, the Central team was sent for the first-hand assessment of the loss.
— TNS |
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Doc to attend global meet in S Africa
Dharamsala, November 8 Dr Guleri will present his research work on Control of Cholera Epidemic in Shimla in July 2010. He is one of the nine scientists (medical professionals) from the country who will be attending the event. Public health specialists from over 47 countries will interact at the conference. Dr Guleri is a public health specialist presently associated with the National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai. |
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Minor raped near Baddi
Solan, November 8 Her mother Vishna Devi later lodged a complaint with the police. Her parents who work at a brick kiln were not around when the mishap took place and Roopbasant took advantage of the situation. The offender also works at a brick kiln. The police today nabbed him after the girl’s medical examination confirmed the crime. A case under Section 376 of the IPC has been registered.
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Body of drowned man still missing
Kangra, November 8 The police said Roop Lal, a resident of Rakwalar village, was fishing in the Beas on Saturday when he slipped from the tube on which he was swimming while fishing and drowned. The police today sought the help from divers who would be arriving at the site tomorrow to trace Roop Lal. — OC
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Shimla, November 8